Houston downs cross-town rival Rice in first game of Silver Glove Series

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2015 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2015 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (March 17, 2015) Exploding for five runs in the fourth inning, the No. 21 Houston Cougars added insurance runs in the seventh and eighth innings to down the No. 8 Rice Owls by the score of 8-3 at Cougar Field on Tuesday, March 17, 2015. The match-up was the first of the three-game series to determine the winner of the Silver Glove Series.

Rice scored two runs in the sixth inning and added one run in the eighth inning in the loss. Rice fell to 15-7 for the season. The Cougars raised their record 14-7.  The two cross-town rivals will again face-off on April 14 at Rice’s Reckling Park and May 12 at Constellation Field in Sugar Land.

The Cougars clobbered off 11 hits in route to the win with Chris Iriart going 2-of-3 and raising his batting average to .338.   Center fielder Zac Taylor was 3-of-3, scoring one run and knocking in one RBI.  Starting pitcher Seth Romero, pitching 6.1 innings, gave up two earned runs and struck out nine. He raised his record to 2-1. Rice starter Jordan Stephens received the loss, dropping his record to 1-1. Aaron Garza, pitching 1.1 innings in relief, received his first save of the season. Houston stranded six runners on base, while Rice left nine on base. Rice used seven pitchers in the loss, while Houston used three pitches in relief.

Houston will now hit the road for a three-game series in Albuquerque against New Mexico on March 20-22, 2015. They will return to Cougar Field on March 25 to face the Lamar Cardinals before again hitting the road for an eight-game road trip.